


Hidden in plain sight

by TiffanyF



Series: Niou is a soul-reaper [1]
Category: Bleach, Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-06
Updated: 2013-02-06
Packaged: 2017-11-28 09:05:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/672665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TiffanyF/pseuds/TiffanyF
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niou keeps staring at Tezuka during training matches. Tezuka has no clue what's going on, but it seems that Niou has a few surprises of his own to share. Don't own, no money made from this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hidden in plain sight

Tezuka wouldn’t let it show, but the laser stare from one of the other team was really starting to get on his nerves. He wanted to focus on the tennis match, which they were losing, but with that stare picking him apart, it was really hard. The Seigaku buchou finally sighed and looked over at the starters for the other team. It wasn’t hard to pick out which of the Rikkai boys was staring at him. Niou Masaharu’s teal eyes didn’t blink as they traveled over Tezuka’s face and body. Trying not to flush red, Tezuka looked back at the court just in time to see Momo and Kaidoh lose. He let Oishi and Inui deal with the argument that was inevitable whenever those two played together and looked out the corner of his eye at Rikkai. Niou’s focus had shifted to the court where Yagyuu Hiroshi was stepping out to face Inui. At least, Tezuka hoped it was Yagyuu who was on the court. He supposed it was possible Niou was playing some sort of prank on them, but reasoned Yukimura had more honor than that. And Inui could win easily against Yagyuu or Niou.

“Ne, Tezuka?”

That was something he didn’t need, Fuji bothering him. “Fuji?”

“Why is Niou trying to stare through you?” Fuji asked softly. “Did you do something to him?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Tezuka replied firmly.

Fuji sighed. “The problem with you, Tezuka, is that I can never tell when you’re lying. I suppose I’ll just have to figure this out on my own then.”

Fuji was more likely to figure it out than Tezuka was. Tezuka had never spoken with Niou beyond a short word at the end of an official match. He had absolutely no idea why the petenshi of Rikkai would be watching him so closely.

The pattern continued for the rest of the matches. Niou’s eyes would sizzle along Tezuka’s body at regular intervals and Seigaku would lose whatever game was being played. Inui fell to Yagyuu’s laser beam; the Golden Pair lost to the unlikely but powerful pairing of Sanada and Niou; Echizen lost to Akaya; Yanagi decimated Taka; and Fuji was lost to Yukimura’s powers. Only Tezuka didn’t play in the unofficial matches. He could already tell that his team needed a lot more work, and he would have to talk to Inui about a new and more intense training program before Seigaku had to face Rikkai officially.

He felt as though he was being followed the whole way home, but every time he looked behind him, Tezuka found that he was alone. He wasn’t sure if it was because he’d had eyes crawling over him all afternoon or if it was because it was Inui following him again, but Tezuka didn’t feel safe until he was home and locked safely in his room. It was a really stupid feeling and Tezuka lectured himself on the futility of feeling stalked in his own home, but the feeling wouldn’t go away.

When he woke up around midnight and found Niou sitting on his desk, it was all Tezuka could do not to scream. Niou smirked and put a finger to his lips, swinging his feet and looking all too at home for Tezuka’s comfort.

“How did you get in here?” he demanded in a low voice, not a whisper but quiet enough that his family wouldn’t hear him.

“You left the window open,” Niou replied in an equally low tone. “Sorry to barge in on you like this, Tezuka, but I’m curious about something.”

“So curious you had to break into my room in the middle of the night?” Tezuka adjusted his glasses, very glad for the pajamas he had almost foregone wearing that night. “You couldn’t have called me on the phone or asked me at the match?”

“I don’t have a phone and besides, I don’t want anyone from Rikkai to know I talked to you.” Niou grinned, obviously amused at some private thought. “It’d just be too much trouble.”

Tezuka glared at the other boy. “So why did you have to show up at midnight?”

“It’ll cut down on awkward questions.”

Tezuka began to wonder if the other boy was sane, or if he might actually be dreaming. He did have to admit that Niou had been on his mind when he went to sleep, and it was entirely possible that it was all a dream. There was one way he could find out. Tezuka slipped out of bed, crossed to the window and studied it for a moment. It was open, but there wasn’t a ladder or rope or anything that could have been used to climb the sheer wall into his second floor bedroom.

“I flew in.” Niou joined Tezuka at the open window. “And it’s no treat to do carrying your body either. It technically isn’t possible for me to carry my own body around with me, but I have friends who know some neat tricks and it makes things easier for me.”

He had to be dreaming. Tezuka crossed his arms over his chest, feeling better for having worked that out and stared down at Niou. “What did you want?”

“You remind me a lot of someone I used to date, back before he got married because his family forced him to,” Niou replied. “And he had to do what his family wanted because he’s the only child and his honor wouldn’t let him cheat on her, so I let it drop, even though I haven’t seen him smile in forever.”

“You sound bitter,” Tezuka observed.

“Wouldn’t you be?” Niou looked up at him. “If your lover waited until after you’d spent most of the evening in his bed to break up with you, and then never spoke to you again.”

Tezuka coughed, flushing slightly. “I’ve never had a lover of either sex,” he said. “I’m too young.”

“You certainly don’t act your age.”

“Neither do you.”

Niou looked stunned for a minute and started laughing. He only just managed to muffle the noise, but it ended with him lying in Tezuka’s bed, pillow over his face, the frame shaking slightly. Tezuka sighed and sat down on the bed as well. It was much easier to talk if they were close together.

“I’m still not sure why you’re here?” Tezuka said.

“Partly to ask into your family history,” Niou said as he pushed the pillow to the side. “You’re so much like my old lover that I can’t imagine you’re not related to him somehow.”

“What’s the other part?”

The smirk reappeared on Niou’s face. “You need to learn to relax, Tezuka,” he said. “So I thought I’d show you a sure-fire method.”

“I know how to relax.”

“No you don’t. I haven’t seen anyone so tense in years,” Niou said. “I kept waiting for you to fall over today because the blood settled in your legs. You need to relax your whole body, Tezuka, otherwise you’ll worry yourself into an early grave.”

“You aren’t going to let this go, are you?”

“Nope.”

Tezuka sighed. “Fine, get on with it then.”

The room swirled for a moment and Tezuka found himself on his back, his hands pinned by his head and Niou smiling down at him. “This is even more fun when you’re begging,” he said. “Of course, Byakuya never begged at first, but he was by the end.”

“Byakuya?”

“My old lover. He was determined to be in control of everything and refused to let me top for years.” Niou leaned down and started kissing Tezuka’s neck. “Something about the head of one of the four great clans not submitting to anyone. I finally tied him up one night and changed his mind about a few things.” He glanced up. “Want me to tie you up, Tezuka?”

“No.” Tezuka wasn’t sure why he would be dreaming about being seduced by Niou, or tied up by him, but let it go. He knew that dreams didn’t always make sense, or reflect exactly what was in the dreamer’s mind, and figured it would all make a lot more sense in the morning.

Niou studied his for a long minute and then smirked. “As you as you don’t hit me, I’ll leave you loose.”

Tezuka flinched when his glasses were removed and he squinted up, watching the other’s boy’s face come closer and closer until all he could see was a blur and lips touched his for the first time. He hadn’t given a lot of thought to his first kiss, but Tezuka liked it. Niou’s mouth fit against his almost perfectly, which it would in a dream, and Tezuka wanted to be free to touch. Fortunately, Niou seemed to have the same idea. He released Tezuka’s hands to start unbuttoning Tezuka’s top. Tezuka moaned when two sensations seemed to slam into him, each battling for attention. Niou’s tongue slid into his mouth and Niou’s hands found naked skin. As much as he didn’t want to do it, Tezuka broke the kiss. “This isn’t a dream, is it?” he asked.

“No,” Niou replied. He feathered kisses over Tezuka’s face and neck, moving as if to taste as much skin as he possibly could. “It’s all real. I’m really here.”

“How?”

“Later.” Niou’s mouth covered a nipple and Tezuka’s whole body stiffened in climax.

“Tezuka.”

When no answer was forthcoming, Niou reached down and tilted the very red face up so he could see the other boy’s eyes. “I’m surprised you lasted as long as you did,” Niou said. “I had a feeling this was your first time, but wasn’t sure. Don’t be embarrassed.”

“Is this right?” Tezuka asked softly. “For us, I mean. Is it all right for us to be doing this?”

“A lot of people will say no,” Niou replied. He started to press random kisses over Tezuka’s chest while he talked. “And they’ll give you all kinds of reasons why it’s not, but in the end there’s only one opinion that matters here.” He slid his hands down to the waistband of Tezuka’s sleep pants. “What do you believe, Tezuka?” How do you feel about it?”

Tezuka’s hands caught Niou’s. “You too.”

Niou nodded and shifted to the side to strip while he listened to Tezuka. “I believe that love is more important than anything,” he said softly. “And that there are a lot of lesser emotions wrapped up in love that are usually there first, like attraction and desire. I’ve never really thought about my preferences, Niou. How do we know if this is real, or just brought on by excited hormones?”

“That’s easy. Lift up.” Niou, who was naked, pulled off Tezuka’s sleep pants and smiled. “Looks like your body likes the attention, Tezuka. Now, let’s see what it thinks of this.”

Niou cast an illusion over himself, appearing as a young school girl, blouse only just holding up under the strain and wearing a very short skirt. “Like this?”

Tezuka felt slightly ill and his body lost all interest in sex. “No,” he managed.

“Good.” Niou reappeared and crawled back onto the bed with Tezuka. “Because that would have made me really jealous.”

Rather than replying, Tezuka reached up and pulled Niou down for a kiss. He hated how awkward he felt trying to lead the kiss, thinking hard about what Niou had been doing until he had to break away in confusion. Niou snickered and let his weight settle on Tezuka’s larger form. “You’ll do better if you don’t think about it,” he said. “You lost track of everything you were trying to do, didn’t you?”

“How did you know?”

“You’re so much like Byakuya, Tezuka,” Niou replied. He tapped Tezuka’s nose with his finger. “Do you know if you have an ancestor named Kuchiki?”

Tezuka tried to think, which was harder than it sounded with Niou’s hand starting to touch places that Tezuka had never touched before. “The name does sound familiar,” he finally said. “But I can’t place it. We’d have to go to the library and look at the family books.”

“I’d rather stay here and do this.” Niou’s hand wrapped around Tezuka’s cock, causing the other boy to arch up and tense at the same time. It should have been impossible, but he managed it. Niou pushed Tezuka’s hips back to the bed and looked down at him. “The question is, how do we do this without waking up the whole house?”

“Do what?” Tezuka was dazed but thought he would do anything if it meant that Niou would keep touching him. Any embarrassment he’d been feeling seemed to have flown with their short conversation about love.

Niou grinned. “I’m going to make you feel better than you ever have before, Tezuka,” he said. “And I think you’re going to want me around for the rest of the year before you leave for Germany.”

“How do you know about that?”

“I pay attention to things.” Niou picked something up off the bed and poured some kind of liquid onto his fingers. “I listen and watch when people aren’t expecting me to be around. This was never meant to be long-term, unless you wanted it to be. I enjoy dating and can find someone else when you leave.”

Tezuka would have answered, but the sudden push and pressure from one of Niou’s slick fingers entering his body drove all thoughts out of his mind. He bit his lip to keep from making any sort of loud noise, and was almost relieved when Niou’s lips covered his again. It made breathing harder, and Tezuka wanted to gulp in air as sensation started to spark through his body. A small part of his mind that was still working realized that it all felt intense because it was the first time he was feeling such things, but the rest of him didn’t care. He wanted it to keep going and never end.

“You’re going to want something to muffle your cries, Tezuka,” Niou finally whispered against Tezuka’s lips.

“Why?”

“Because this is going to hurt and there’s nothing I can do to lessen it any more than I already have,” Niou said. “And you really don’t want to have to explain something like this to your family.”

Tezuka grabbed the pillow that Niou had abandoned and covered his face with it. He hated that he wasn’t able to kiss Niou with the fabric and feathers in the way, but when he felt the pressure increase on his body, he was glad to have it there. His body didn’t want to open for Niou’s erection and seemed to fight, no matter how much he tried to relax. Tezuka could feel Niou’s hands rubbing his stomach and hips, trying to sooth him and help him relax. “That’s it,” Niou finally said. “You need to relax, Tezuka.”

“Why do people do this?” Tezuka asked, gasping for air. He let the pillow fall to the side and looked up at the boy over him.

“It feels really, really good once you get going,” Niou replied. He shifted a little, starting to move. The last thing Niou wanted to do was hurt Tezuka, but he knew that he wouldn’t be able to hold on long enough to wait for complete relaxation. It’d been a few years since he had a partner and he’d forgotten how intense it was to be someone’s first. He just hoped he would be able to prolong things enough for Tezuka to want to do it again.

“I somehow doubt that,” Tezuka said, finally catching his breath. He was by no means relaxed, but seemed to be doing better. And the intrusion into his body didn’t feel quite as big as it had several minutes before.

Niou smirked down at him. “I guess I’ll just have to prove it to you then, won’t I?” He leaned down and kissed Tezuka softly as he started to move. Tezuka slit his eyes opened enough that he could watch Niou’s face, even as close as it was, and could see that the other boy was really enjoying it. Tezuka didn’t see what the big deal was, right up until Niou’s hips snapped forward and Tezuka felt something sharp spike through his body. He broke out of the kiss to breathe as he body came alive under Niou’s touch and he started to push back, searching for something that he didn’t even know he needed. They moved together until it was too much for Tezuka and he fell apart and almost passed out from the sensations running through him. Niou’s release flooded him and the other boy collapsed down on him.

“Well?” Niou managed.

“I think I might need to try this a few more times before I can form a firm opinion,” Tezuka replied. He reached up with a shaky hand and stroked Niou’s platinum hair. “If you want to, that is.”

“I do,” Niou said. He rolled carefully to the side. “Mind if I rest for a bit? I’m too tired to try to carry my body back home.”

Tezuka sighed. “We’re going to have to talk about a few things, Niou,” he said. “But yes, you can stay for a while.”

Niou kissed him. “Thank you.”  
**********

Tezuka woke up to the sound of an argument not far away from his bed and frowned, trying to remember why his body hurt so badly. Then he remembered Niou and sat up quickly. And just as quickly regretted it. Only Tezuka’s iron will kept him upright and he stared across to the pair fighting in his bed room. Niou was one of them, but Tezuka had never seen the other, who had his back to him.

“This is how you choose to spend your time?” the strange man was asking. “You waste it on humans who don’t realize what you are, or how old you truly are? You’re pathetic.”

“So you think,” Niou replied. “I find humans relaxing compared to the stiff jerks who run the Soul Society.”

“How dare you?”

“I dare because of what you did to me. You used me and then kicked me out when you found something better,” Niou said. He dodged around the man and jumped up on the window sill - the move making Tezuka’s breath catch, it was a long way to the ground. “You were too scared to tell your family the truth and picked the wrong thing, Byakuya.”

Byakuya folded his arms over his chest. “You are out of touch. Hisana is dead.”

“How sad for her. Bet your grandpa is thrilled, now he can marry you off to someone from a more respectable family and fill the mansion with the brats he’s always wanted.” Niou leaned out the window, looking like he might fall, but somehow managed to spin on air and come back into the room. “That still doesn’t explain why you’re here bothering me when you should be back at home running everything.”

“I’ve come to take you back.”

“Can’t happen. I still have seventy years to go before the old man will even consider letting me back into the Soul Society. Set off one practical joke and find out that no one has a sense of humor.”

“Placing fire crackers into the meat plates at the dinner for the four noble houses of the Soul Society that Head Captain Yamamoto was hosting is hardly a practical joke,” Byakuya spat.

Tezuka had to work hard not to laugh. He didn’t understand a lot of the conversation, but the prank sounded like something that Niou would do. And if this was the same Byakuya who was Niou’s old lover, and it sounded like he was, then Tezuka could see why he reminded the Petenshi of Byakuya. But Tezuka would never treat a lover badly. Hearts were not something to be played around with. He also realized that Niou knew he was awake.

“Those old farts needed something to wake them up,” Niou said. “They think they know everything, know what’s good for the soul reapers when they sit in their houses safe and sound and never do anything. The rules they’re forcing on us are centuries old and are going to get people killed.”

“You sound like Urahara.”

“Kisuke has his good points,” Niou smirked. “Old Man Yama will figure it out one of these days and bring him back. The Soul Society is gonna die without Kisuke helping out.”

“The man is a meddler who should never have been granted Captaincy in the first place,” Byakuya said. “I shall speak with the head captain and have him allow you back.”

Niou snorted and glanced back towards Tezuka. Tezuka got the idea and lay back, carefully, and closed his eyes. “What makes you think I want to go back, Byakuya?” Niou asked. He leapt over and landed on the bed next to Tezuka. “I’ve found someone here who is probably part of your family and has more heart than you ever will. He understands honor in battle, and love. I think I’ll just say here.”

“Pretending to be a child.” Disdain dripped from every word. Byakuya turned and looked down at Tezuka. “You are well over 400 years old and you choose to live like this?”

“Yeah, I do. You got a problem with that?” Niou asked.

Byakuya reached out and grabbed Niou’s arm and Tezuka wasn’t sure what happened next, but the strange man vanished and so did Niou. His window frame shuddered, but that was it. Tezuka blinked several times, got up carefully and went to the window to look outside. There was a storm off in the distance, but no sign of any life near his house. He closed the window and wrapped himself up in a blanket. If not for the pain in his back, he would have thought he dreamed the whole thing.

Maybe he had.  
**********

Tezuka didn’t see Niou for two weeks. Then the Petenshi showed up at Seigaku to watch tennis practice. Tezuka left his team worked and walked over to where Niou was standing at the fence. “Come walk,” he said softly. “You make the others nervous.”

“Then I’m doing my job well,” Niou smirked. “Aren’t you worried they’ll follow us?”

“They won’t dare during practice,” Tezuka said. “What did you want?”

Niou sighed. “Mainly to apologize for running off like that, but I could tell that things weren’t going to end well and wanted to get away from you as quickly as I could without damaging anything,” he said. “I really, really didn’t expect Byakuya to show up like that.”

“You still owe me an explanation,” Tezuka said.

“You’re not crazy and you didn’t dream it,” Niou replied. “Everything really happened like you remember. I’m sorry for how it ended. I wanted to stay with you, but Byakuya decided to show up.”

“I’m listening,” Tezuka said. “I heard what the two of you were talking about, but didn’t understand a word of it.”

Niou paused and looked up at Tezuka. “I guess the bottom line of it all is that I’m not human,” he said. “Well, I was and when I died I was strong enough to make my way into the Soul Society and become a soul reaper. My job is two-fold; help good spirits into the Soul Society and keep the bad from harming the good or the living. But the head of the soul reapers has no sense of humor and banned me for a hundred years.”

Tezuka almost smiled. “That would be the exploding meat plates?” he asked.

“And an exploding cake,” Niou grinned. “The four clans are stuffy and need to relax more, but they didn’t think it was funny, and old man Yama had to ban me. But I’ve been enjoying the world of the living and don’t know if I want to go back. I think I can do more good here, in the long run.”

“How old are you?”

“Four hundred and some change,” Niou said. “I’m not really sure when I died, and use my entry into the ranks of the soul reapers to mark my age. A lot of us do.”

“Could you do more good back there than you are here?” Tezuka asked.

“Not really, because I would have to listen to the head captain and my captain and lieutenant and follow the rules.” Niou grinned. “I hate following the rules, Tezuka.”

“I’ve noticed.” Tezuka looked back towards the tennis courts. Everyone was accounted for. “So no one else knows the truth about you?”

“Nope, and won’t unless I want them to,” Niou said. “It’s easier for me to pretend to be a kid. It lets me go places that adults can’t always go and help the spirits who would fall through the cracks otherwise. And I have help from a couple of guys who are in the same boat as I am.”

“The mysterious Kisuke?”

“I’ll take you to meet him, if you’d like,” Niou said. “He’s someone that everyone should meet at least once in their lives.”

Tezuka did smile at that. “I’d like that,” he said. “I want to know more about you, Niou, if we’re going to do this. I am planning to go to Germany, but I’d like to spend as much time as possible with you before I do that.”

Niou grinned. “Sounds like a plan to me.”


End file.
